Ahsoka's Return
by Deneve the Claymore
Summary: If Ahsoka had survived Order 66, what would she have done when the Empire fell? In this story, Ahsoka's place in the universe, and position in the Force, are dependent on what she finds. She meets some old friends, and new ones we know well, as she searches to find a place she belongs, and for closure with her old master's death.
1. Chapter 1

"Luke!" Luke Skywalker looked up from his X-Wing to see Han jogging over. "Hey Han, how was the supply run?" Han waved his hand in the air. "It was easy. A toddler could have done it with their eyes closed. But I got something big for you." Luke grabbed a rag and wiped his hands clean as he climbed down the ladder. "What is it?" "I found someone who says they're a Jedi." Luke frowned. "Where did you find them?" "I found her on Shili. She said that she left the Jedi Order before Order 66." Luke nodded. "Where is she?" Han started walking back the way he had come. "She's in the bay, I thought you'd want to meet her first." Luke walked after Han, and R2 beeped and followed them.

As Luke and Han entered the bay, a tall figure talking to a pilot turned around. She was a Togruta, and her head tails were white with blue stripes. She didn't look old, which surprised Luke. As he and Han came up, he bowed. "It's an honor to meet you, master." "Don't call me that." Luke looked up, surprised. "I was never a master." Luke nodded. "My name is Luke Skywalker, and this is Han Solo." The Togruta nodded. "We introduced ourselves when we met on Shili." Han grinned. "She said her name is - " R2 interrupted with a piercing whistle as he tore around Luke's legs and spun around in front of the Togruta. She looked down and her eyes widened with astonishment. Luke stepped forward and reached out towards R2. "Hey, R2, what's going on, bud-"

He stopped in shock as the Jedi dropped to her knees and and looked closely at R2. "R2?" She whispered. She grinned, barely a twitch at first, but widening as he whistled a reply. She wrapped her arms around R2 and hugged him tightly as he whistled over and over again. "Artooie!" "You know him?" The Jedi look up, grinning, and her smile faded. "He belonged to my old master." Han looked at R2 and frowned. "Hey, Luke, didn't you say that - " He stopped as the Jedi stood up and looked sharply at Luke. "You said your name was Skywalker?" Luke nodded, and he was surprised to see a flash of emotion in her eyes. "Was someone in your family a Jedi?" Luke looked down at R2, who was contentedly waiting by the Jedi's side, and nodded. "My father. His name was Anakin."

He looked up and saw that her face had gone blank. "Well, my name is Ahsoka. Ahsoka Tano. I felt what happened, and I decided to leave Shili." "Hey, do you want to come sit down? I was planning on checking with Chewie, and thought I'd grab something to eat on the way." Han looked at the two of them. Luke felt a rush of gratitude for Han trying to defuse the situation. Ahsoka nodded, and she and Luke fell into step with Han.

"What happened on the Death Star?" Ahsoka asked as they walked out of the bay with R2 rolling along beside them. "I encountered the Emperor and Darth Vader, and the Emperor tried to convince me to join him." Luke's stomach twisted as he thought of how angry he had been, and how close he had gone to the dark. "I refused, and he had Vader attack me. We fought, and I defeated him. Then the Emperor was killing me with electrocution, and Vader…" Luke bit his lip as he remembered that night. "Vader saved me." He looked at Ahsoka, expecting to see disbelief, but was surprised to see something approaching happiness. She rubbed her hand across her eyes and rested her hand on R2. "Did he say why he did it?" Luke nodded. "He said that I was right, about there still being good in him."

"Well, here's the kitchen, do you guys want anything to eat?" Ahsoka looked up as they walked into the kitchen. Several pilots were in there, as well as some people dressed in civilian clothes and a couple droids. Han made a beeline for a Wookie sitting at a table in the corner working with metal, and Luke and Ahsoka sat down at the table running down the center of the room. Luke looked at Ahsoka and frowned. "You don't seem surprised about Vader at all." Ahsoka shook her head. "I knew that something like this would happen. He isn't evil." Luke blinks. "Who are you talking about?" Ahsoka looked at him. "Anakin Skywalker, your father, and my old master." Luke leaned forward. His eyes searched her face. "So you knew my father when he was a Jedi?" Ahsoka nodded. "He was my master, and he was the only person I trusted. We fought together in the Clone Wars, and he taught me so much."

There was a thud, and Han slid onto the stool next to Luke. "So, I wanted to introduce you to my friend, Ahsoka. This is my copilot, Chewbacca." He gestured towards the Wookie, and the Wookie roared. Ahsoka nodded, then stopped. "Your name is Chewbaca?" Chewie nodded, and Ahsoka stood up. Even with her headtails, Ahsoka was still three inches shorter than Chewie. Ahsoka stared at the belt he wore across his chest, then looked hard at his face. "Do you remember the Transdoshans? Where they kidnapped people to hunt, and we fought them?" Chewie stared at her, then his eyes lit up. He roared and wrapped his arms around her in a hug, lifting her off the ground, and Han, Luke, and the entire kitchen stared in amazement. As Chewie set her down and she turned, grinning, back to Luke, Han cleared his throat. "Do you think that maybe you could explain how you know both R2 and Chewie?"


	2. Chapter 2

Han leaned back and rubbed his face as he looked at Ahsoka. "So you were a commander in the Clone Wars?" Ahsoka nodded. "I fought on the front lines and in enemy territory many times, and I performed missions assigned by the Council." Luke put his cup down and look at her. "But you don't look old enough! You had to have been a child back then or something." R2 whistled, and Ahsoka grinned. "I was. I became a padowan when I was fourteen." Han shook his head in disbelief. "You had to have been one heck of a kid to survive all that." Ahsoka shrugged, then looked towards the door. "Someone's coming."

Luke looked up and grinned. "Hi Leia!" He jumped up and hugged the young woman that came through the door. Han jumped up as well and grabbed her around the waist and kissed her. "So how was the diplomacy today? Boring as usual?" Leia grinned and and laughed. "It was necessary, Han. You'll be glad to know I got another trip for you. You need to fly to Kashyyyk tomorrow, because they said that one of the newborns has been doing strange things." Han looked at her with an injured expression. "Are you that eager to get rid of me?" Leia looked at him. "Well, if you think it would take too long for you to get there…" Han huffed. "There's no way it would take me too long to get there! Do I have to remind you who the fastest ship in the galaxy belongs to?"

Leia shook her head, grinning, then her eyes fell on Ahsoka. Ahsoka was staring at Leia with wide eyes. "Hello. Who are you?" Ahsoka stood up and bowed. "I'm Ahsoka Tano, and I apologize for staring. It's just, you look so much like your mother." Leia blinked. "How do you know my mother?" Ahsoka smiled sadly. "Because she was my friend, and we took care of each other." Leia looked from her to Luke and Han, who both nodded. "I brought her here from Shili. We talked on the flight here, and she seems like the real deal." Han grins at Leia. "She's the first Jedi we've found." Luke adds. Luke looks at Ahsoka nervously. "And that leads up to what I was going to ask you."

Ahsoka looked at him, but her eyes seemed far away. "Would you help me to create a new Jedi Order?" Ahsoka blinked and her eyes sharpened. "Why would you want me to help you? You already know I left the old Jedi Order, maybe I was expelled." Luke shook his head. "You wouldn't have come with Han if you didn't want to find other Jedi. And Han is an amazing judge of character. If he had thought you were dangerous, then he wouldn't have brought you here."

Ahsoka nodded slowly, then looked at Luke. "Would you be insulted if I waited until tomorrow to give you an answer?" Luke shook his head and Leia stepped forward. "Of course not! They should've showed you to a room hours ago!"

Leia and Ahsoka stepped out of the room, and Han breathed out a sigh. "Wow, she's intense." Luke laughed. "She's scary, you mean." His face grew thoughtful. "But her connection to the force is amazingly strong. If she decides to stay and help, then we'll have someone who actually knows how to train younglings." Han looked at the doorway. "She was careful what she talked about. She talked about R2 and Chewie, but she didn't say anything about her master or why she left the Jedi before. Do you really think you can trust her?" Luke shrugged. "You brought her here, and she doesn't feel evil, so yes."

Leia opened a door and reached inside to turn on the light. "Here's one of the rooms we have for travelers. It's nothing fancy, but it's good enough to sleep in." Ahsoka nodded and followed Leia inside. As Leia turned on the light in the ceiling, she looked at Ahsoka. "Did you actually know my mother?" Ahsoka stared at the wall, then nodded. She turned to look at Leia and was surprised to see Leia had come up to stand behind her. "She was beautiful. She worked hard for the Republic, but she wasn't blind to its faults. She could handle a blaster, and wasn't afraid to use aggressive negotiations if everything else failed."

Ahsoka grinned as she remembered everything Padme had done with her. "She was a diplomat, like you." Leia blinked, and started to smile. "You're a lot like her. She would be proud of you." Leia rubbed her eyes and realized that they were full of tears. "Thank you, Ahsoka. It means a lot to learn what she was like." Leia turned to go, then stepped back and gave Ahsoka a quick hug before leaving the room and closing the door. Ahsoka blinked, then grinned, and sat down on the small bed in the corner. Her expression slowly clouded as she thought about those last days in the Jedi Order. "Why didn't you leave?" She whispered as the light dimmed. "Why did you leave everything, master?"

In the droid repair room, C-3PO was having his joints cleaned as R2 whistled at him. "What are you saying, R2? There's a Jedi here who used to be our owner's padowan?" C-3PO shook his head. "You need to have you circuitry checked. Luke's never had a padowan." R2 beeped angrily at him. "You remember and I don't? Since when would that happen? Everybody knows I have the better memory." R2 made a rude noise, then whistled again. "They had my memory wiped?!" C-3PO stared at him. "Why would anyone wipe a protocol droid's memory? They might damage the data banks." R2 uttered a quick succession of beeps. "They did it to protect our master's children? Why would they be in any danger?" R2 spun around and beeped, and C-3PO stood up in shock.

"Darth Vader?! You're saying our master was the dictator of the universe?" C-3PO laughed. "Now I know you're broken." R2 wheeled over to him, but C-3PO waved his hand. "No, you're not going to show me any of your data. For all we know, it might be an infection that's scrambling you, and I don't want to take any chances." R2 made another rude noise as C-3PO walked away. "And I don't want to hear another word about our 'old master'." As the lights turned off, R2 beeped sadly and rolled out of the room after C-3PO. He paused in the doorway and looked down the hallway. C-3PO was walking towards the main room, and after a moment's thought, R2 turned and went in the other direction, towards Ahsoka's room.


	3. Chapter 3

Ahsoka lay on the bed with her eyes closed. She breathed out slowly, then opened her eyes and sat up. "There's no chance I'm sleeping tonight." She swung her feet off the bed and strapped her lightsabers on as R2 rolled through the door. He beeped once at her, and Ahsoka smiled. "I never thought I'd see you again, Artooie." R2 spun in a circle, and Ahsoka stood up. "You want to show me around the place?" R2 nodded and rolled through the doorway, and Ahsoka followed him. R2 stopped and looked down both hallways before turning down the left-hand side. Ahsoka grinned and followed him, pausing to close the door to her room. R2 rolled past several doorways before turning down a short hallway that opened up into the main hanger. Ahsoka looked around at the ships as she followed him in, and her gaze settled on the ship she flew in on, the _Millennium Falcon_.

Ahsoka jogged over to the ship and opened the hatch, then walked in. R2 rolled partway up the hatch after her and beeped a warning. Ahsoka talked without looking at him as she kept walking into the ship. "Come on Artooie, just a quick look. A couple functions seemed a little slow to respond, so I wanted to check it out." Ahsoka opened the panel to the hyperdrive and climbed in, and R2 rolled to the edge and looked down. Ahsoka strapped on a pair of goggles and flicked a flashlight on, then started examining the hyperdrive. After a few minutes, she grinned. "Artooie, some of the hyper drive cables are leaking. They aren't large leaks, so that's probably why they aren't showing up on the scans, but they're coating everything in here." Ahsoka climbed up and grabbed some cleaning supplies, then searched the storage units until she found the spare cables.

R2 bleeped at her, and Ahsoka grinned. "I haven't worked with a ship this old since that wreck he fell in love with and started using for missions, remember? It's going to be fun!" Ahsoka dropped back down to the hyperdrive and started cleaning off the connections around the hyperdrive lines. R2 sat and watched her, occasionally adding a beep to the otherwise quiet surroundings. As it grew to be early morning, Ahsoka looked up at R2 from where she lay underneath the hyperdrive. "You know, it almost feels like nothing happened when I'm in here. I could almost imagine him walking in and-" At that moment, there was a sound outside the room. "Hey, who's in my ship?!" Someone strode into the room and looked down at Ahsoka. It was the captain of the ship, Han Solo.

He drew his blaster and aimed it straight at her. "What are you doing with my hyperdrive?" Ahsoka held up the last fluid line. "I'm replacing the hyperdrive lines. When you flew me here I noticed that some of the functions were slow to react. I couldn't sleep, so I decided to find out why. Here, I'll show you." Ahsoka gestured with her hand, and Han cautiously holstered his blaster and climbed down. He pulled on the goggles Ahsoka offered him and looked where she was pointing. "See, these three lines all had small leaks. They were small enough that they didn't show up on the scans, but they've been here long enough that everything around them was coated in the fluid." Ahsoka touches a new seal that looks slightly out of place. "One of the hyperdrive exhaust seals was also damaged, so I replaced it with one from the supply up there."

Han relaxes slightly and points at one of the joints Ahsoka cleaned. "What about the baseline joints? If they were coated by the hyperdrive leak as well, shouldn't they be replaced too?" Ahsoka shook her head. "No, the baselines are still air sealed, so once I cleaned them off there wasn't anything else that needed to be done." Ahsoka grabbed the tool and finished removing the last of the damaged lines, then picked up the new line to attach it. "Here, let me help." Han grabbed the line and moved it into position, and Ahsoka began attaching it. They didn't say anything as Ahsoka spun the connection tight and checked to make sure it was secure. She grinned and pulled off her goggles, then slid out from under the hyperdrive. "There. You should see some improvement when you fly her to Kashyyk."

Han grinned as he pulled off his goggles as well. "So not only are you a Jedi that fought as a commander in the Clone Wars, you're also a ship technician?" Ahsoka grinned back at him. "It came in useful not having to depend on your troops for repairs if your ship got shot down." Ahsoka's eyes darkened, and she sighed and rubbed her headtails. Han looked at her and frowned. "Hey, come on. The kitchen should be open now, and they get their hands on some pretty good food." Ahsoka looked at him and raised her eyebrow. "Are you telling me to cheer up?" Han grinned wider as they walked out. "Maybe."

Ahsoka laughed, and as they exited the ship Han raised his hand. "Hey Luke!" Ahsoka looked up and saw the young Jedi walking towards them. Han grinned and clapped him on the back. "Hey Luke, did you know that Ahsoka here can find her way around a ship? She found some leaks in my hyperdrive lines and was able to replace them as well as one of the exhaust seals." Luke looks at her impressed. "You were able to figure out how that piece of junk worked?" Han glared at Luke. "Hey, be nice to my ship. She's gotten you out of more than a few tight spots." Luke nodded distractedly and looked at his communicator, which was buzzing.

Luke tapped it, and an image of Leia popped up. Luke smiled, and she smiled back. "Hello Luke. Are you already on business?" "Yeah, is there anything you needed?" Leia nodded. "When you see Han, tell him he needs to actually wear his communicator, and that he was supposed to leave for Kashyyk half an hour ago." "I didn't know you cared that much, Leia." Han grinned as he stepped next to Luke so Leia could see him. Leia sighed and put her hands on her hips. "Of course I care, Han. But the point is you're supposed to be heading to Kashyyk to get someone with Force sensitivity. And you need to go now so you can get there in time." Han bowed, sweeping his arm out dramatically. "Your wish is my command, Princess." He turned and walked towards his ship, and grinned at Ahsoka as he walked past. "See you later, Snippy." Ahsoka turned and stared after him in shock, then shook her head.

"Hey." Ahsoka looked at Luke, who smiled slightly. "Are you hungry? The kitchen just opened, and they have bantha bread today. It's actually really good." Ahsoka nodded. "Ok. Hey, is there any scrap metal I could work with? I want to build something for training, but I don't have the materials for it." Luke nodded. "Yes, we have a bunch from ships that have been shot down. What are you planning on building?" Ahsoka looked at him out of the corner of her eye as they walked towards the kitchen. "I'm going to build some attack droids. I always practice combat, but working with real droids would be better." Luke looked at her curiously. "Does that mean you've made a decision on whether to stay or not?" Ahsoka looked down and touched her lightsaber hilts, then nodded slowly. "Yes. I'm going to stay here and help train the younglings."


	4. Chapter 4

Luke sighed as he walked out of the Junkyard. He had taken Ahsoka there after they grabbed a bite to eat, and she had immediately started exploring the many ships in there. She had been surprised at the name, and Luke had explained that before this was a Rebel base, it was actually a junkyard, so there were ship parts in there from the time of the Clone Wars. He rubbed his hand across his eyes as he walked back into the main hanger.

"Hey, look out!" Luke looked up and stepped aside just in time to miss colliding with a stack of boxes with legs. Luke blinked and frowned, then looked behind the stack of boxes. Carrying them was a pilot he didn't know personally. "Do you need help?" The pilot shook his head. "No, I'm good. I didn't want to waste time walking back and forth, so I grabbed all the supplies at once." Luke looked at him with amusement and started walking next to him. "What's your name?" The pilot glanced at him. "I'm Petro. What's yours?" "I'm Luke."

Petro's walk slowed for a moment, then went back to normal. "Luke Skywalker?" Luke nodded. "Yes, that's me." "So you're the Jedi? Nice to meet you." Luke looked up as they were about to enter the hallway. "Petro, I think your crates are too tall to fit in the hallway." Petro shook his head. "Nah, they'll be fine, I'm sure. So how did you get your training if-" "Careful!" Luke reached out just as the top box collided with a beam and fell off the stack, and caught it neatly. "Huh." Petro looked up at the top of his stack. "I guess you were right."

Luke examined the box in his hands, which was a little larger then his head. "So what do you have in here?" Petro shrugged. "Nothing really, just some personal items. Oh shoot!" Petro cursed as he slipped on something, then straightened as the top two boxes leaned and slipped off the stack. "Catch them!" Luke's hands were full, but he turned to try to grab the boxes anyway. But they were too far away, and Luke couldn't reach them.

The two boxes were an inch away from hitting the ground when they froze, suspended in midair. Luke looked up and saw Ahsoka was standing there, with her hand outstretched. She made a flicking motion with her wrist, and the two crates floated up and landed neatly in her arms. She smiled at Luke, then looked at Petro, who was trying to see around the last three crates he was carrying. "How did you do that?" Petro asked, blinking at Ahsoka around his crates. "Don't worry, I caught them. Let's take them wherever you wanted to put them." Petro nodded and started walking, and Ahsoka and Luke followed him. They eventually came to the pilot sleeping quarters, and Petro managed to open his door and drop his crates on the table.

Ahsoka and Luke followed him in and set their crates down as well next to his. He turned and grinned at them, then put his hand out to shake Luke's. "Thanks for the help. If you hadn't caught that crate, then I probably would have dropped the others as well." Luke took his hand and shook it. "It was nothing." Then Petro looked at Ahsoka. "And the same goes for you. If you hadn't caught those crates, I don't know what I would've done." Ahsoka shook his hand as well, and he grinned. "How did you do that, anyway? It looked like you were using the Force, are you a Jedi?" Ahsoka nodded. "My name is Ahsoka." Petro grinned cockily at her. "It's a pleasure to meet you Ahsoka! My name's Petro, I'm kind of new here."

Petro turned back to Luke, his grin fading slightly. "So there are two Jedi here now?" Luke nodded. "Yes, Han brought Ahsoka back on his trip yesterday. She was a padowan in the Clone Wars." Petro looks at Ahsoka with an impressed expression on his face. "You saw those wars? What were they like?" Ahsoka shrugged slightly and looked at him. "They were a war. Similar to this rebel war you fought, but all over the galaxy. Every single planet was a battlefield of some sort." Petro looked at her, and Luke noticed that Petro was frowning slightly as he looked at Ahsoka. "Well, is there anything else you need help with Petro?" Luke asked quietly. Petro started slightly and shook his head as if he had been distracted, then looked at Luke. "No, thanks for the offer. I've got it from here. It was nice meeting you both!" Petro opens the door for them, and Luke and Ahsoka both leave the room. Petro closed the door behind them, and Luke looked at Ahsoka and shrugged. "I didn't know him, but he was having issues with the crates, so I helped him." Ahsoka nodded and grinned at him. "I did the same." Ahsoka clasped her hands behind her back as they started walking back down the hall, and Luke looked at her expectantly. She looked over at him and opened her mouth, then stopped, closed it, then opened it again.

"Actually, I wanted to ask you something. When Han gets back, I want to go through Artooie's databanks to find video files of your mother." Luke looks at her in surprise. "Would you be able to do that? I thought that droids always had their information erased after it wasn't required." Ahsoka tilted her head slightly. "Usually that would be the case, but my master never deleted any files he gave to R2. So R2 is actually carrying the majority of the plans and communications between my master and other people, as well as surveillance footage from several different locations. I know that I'll be able to find something with your mother in it."

Luke's mind spun with the idea of seeing what his mother actually looked like. He looked at Ahsoka, and Ahsoka grinned slightly at him. He nodded and shook his head, clearing the shocked expression from his face. There was a sound of someone running up behind them, and he and Ahsoka turned to see a teenage girl running up to Luke. She stopped in front of him and grinned. "Han just contacted us. He's bringing the Wookie back and should be here soon."

Luke looked at Ahsoka as the teenager ran back the way she came. "Do you want to go meet the youngling?" Ahsoka nodded, and he and Ahsoka walked down the hall, and entered the main shipyard just as the _Millennium Falcon_ landed. Ahsoka grinned at Luke as they waited for Han and the wookie child. "What do you think about the first youngling coming?" Ahsoka looked curiously at Luke. Luke shrugged. "I don't know exactly. I have no idea how younglings were treated in the Jedi Order. I don't even know what the Jedi Order was like, and my training was unusual, to say the least." Luke looked at Ahsoka. "That's why I'm glad you're here. You'll be able to show me how the Order worked with younglings." Ahsoka smiled, but whatever she was going to say was cut off by the door opening.

Han stepped out of the ship and waved at them, then looked back into the ship. "Well, come on. They're not going to bite you, you can come out." At first nothing moved, then a small figure stepped out, and Luke stifled a gasp. The Wookie's fur was pure white, without a streak of color anywhere in its coat. Luke looked at Han in shock as he walked towards them. Han shrugged at the expression on Luke's face, and looked back at the small Wookie following him. "I think that's why they decided to send her to become a Jedi. They believe that white fur is a sign of misfortune. Usually they're set against Wookies leaving home this early.

Ahsoka crouched down and extended her hand out to the small Wookie, who looked at her cautiously. "Hello, what's your name? My name's Ahsoka." The small Wookie looked at her before putting one of her tiny paws in Ahsoka's hand carefully. "My name is Spetevge, and it's nice to meet you." Ahsoka smiled, and Spetevge smiled back. "Han!" Luke looked up and saw Leia walking towards Han with a smile on her face. "It's good to see you made it back safely." Han grinned broadly. "Is that relief I hear in your voice?" "What? No! I just heard there was a group of people making trouble for any ships going past their territory." Leia tries to hide a smile, but Han grins and grabs her around the waist, then spins her around until she laughs. He sets her down carefully, and she holds onto his arm to steady herself.

Luke smiled and looked down at Spetevge, and noticed that she had walked over to stand in front of him. She held out her paw and smiled. "It's nice to meet you." Luke shook her paw, and Leia looked at Spetevge. "We can show you where you're staying, if you want." Spetevge nodded. "That would be nice." Ahsoka looked at Leia as she stood up. "After that, I want to talk to you all in the computer lab. I should be able to access R2's data banks and show you security footage from the Clone Wars." Leia looked at Ahsoka curiously. "What would that do?" Luke put his hand on Leia's shoulder, and smiled when she looked at him. "It means she'd be able to show us what our mother looked like." Leia's eyes widened and she looked back at Ahsoka. "Is that true?" Luke looked at Ahsoka, who nodded slowly, and Leia smiled. "That would be wonderful, Ahsoka. Thank you."


	5. Chapter 5

Ahsoka frowned slightly as she went through the computer's controls, trying to access R2's memory banks. She looked down at him and grinned as he whistled at her. "I know, I'm having trouble. Can you stop laughing at me and help?" R2 beeped, and the hologram's view spun before settling on a set of folders. Ahsoka rolled her eyes and grinned. "Thanks, Artooie." She looked over at Han, Leia, and Luke, who were watching her try to find the files. Han's expression was amused, while Leia and Luke had more polite neutral expressions.

"You guys can come over, Artooie found the files, now we can go through them and find recordings with your mother in them." Han grinned and walked over. "I've heard about their mom, I'm looking forward to finding out what she actually looks like." Leia stands next to Ahsoka and smiles at her. "Thank you for doing this. It means a lot to us to see her." Ahsoka shook her head smiling. "It's no problem." Luke was examining the files, each labeled with a different name. "So how are these sorted?" "R2 sorted all of his files by type. So one file contains all hologram transmissions, another contains building plans, and so on. It's actually really efficient."

Ahsoka began scrolling through the files, glancing at the names and occasionally opening a file and looking at the first entry. She paused at a file marked simply "B.F." and frowned as she tried to remember what the name meant. "What's in there?" Luke looked at the file curiously. "It's larger then most of the other files." Ahsoka shrugged and opened the file. "I don't remember. Let's find out." She selected the first entry, and a video opened. It showed a rocky area lit up with a yellow light.

The camera view moved slowly, almost cautiously, then turned and looked at a group of soldiers wearing white armor that were walking next to the camera. The camera turned back to the front, and blaster fire suddenly erupted around the group. "It's an ambush!" One of the soldiers yelled, and the person, because someone had to be wearing the camera for it to move that way, drew their lightsaber, with a vibrant green blade. The camera's view flipped as the person wearing it moved suddenly, and the video screen closed, fading back to the file symbol. "What happened?" Luke, Leia, and Han all looked at Ahsoka, who looked down at the controls as she kept moving past that file.

"There's nothing you need to see there." Leia frowned. "What do you mean? It looked like a battle of some sort, we could learn what happened if we watched those videos." "I SAID NO!" Ahsoka blinked, shocked at the volume of her own voice, then turned back to the controls. She could feel Luke's eyes burning into her back, but she ignored them until she saw a file labeled "Senate Security Footage". She grinned, relieved to have something to show them. "Here, this is it." She clicked the first entry, and the video showed a hallway in the Galactic Senate. She fast forwarded through the video for a while, then shook her head. "Nothing here." She flipped through the videos until she came to a video of an office. "Here's her office, we'll definitely-" Ahsoka stopped talking as two people walked into the office. "-and the only way we'll be able to negotiate with them is if they understand that the Republic doesn't mean them harm."

The speaker was a young woman who looked shockingly like Leia. Leia looked at Ahsoka, and Ahsoka grinned and nodded before looking back at the screen. The person talking to Padme nodded. "I agree. So our next step would be to send a diplomat with minimal security so they don't feel threatened. I can propose that to the Supreme Chancellor right away. Thank you for speaking with me." Without further ado, he stepped out of the office and closed the door behind himself. Padme turned and walked over to one of the windows, but she had only just gotten there when the door dinged. "Who is it?" Her voice was soft, but it was strong as well. "It's a Padowan, ma'm. She says she'd like to speak to you." Padme smiled, looking at the door. "Let her in please."

The door slid open, and someone walked into the room wearing Jedi robes. She had her hood pulled up, but she pulled her hood back as soon as the door closed. Ahsoka looked over at Han and Luke, who were both watching the recording with wide eyes, then looked at Leia, who was smiling as Padme embraced the Padowan. "Ahsoka, it's so good to see you again!" The younger Ahsoka, because it was her, smiled and hugged Padme back. "It's been so long!"

Ahsoka stepped back and grinned at Padme, and the present Ahsoka smiled at her recording. She was so small in the recording, over half a head shorter then Padme, with tiny headtails that barely reached past her shoulders. But the biggest difference was her face. The younger Ahsoka looked, in a word, happy, and her eyes shined with excitement. "I heard that the Supreme Chancellor is assigning both me and Anakin to accompany you on your next trip to the Hutts!" Padme smiled warmly. "Both of you? That's wonderful! I'll be able to see how much you've improved since last time you were on a mission with me. How is Anakin?" Ahsoka smiled. "He's good, he's getting our orders right now from the council." Ahsoka and Padme walked towards the door. "Well, we should be able to meet with him afterwards and leave right after then." Ahsoka nodded in agreement, and the door slid shut behind them.

Ahsoka ended the recording and looked at Leia and the others. Han and Luke had expressions of pure shock on their faces, but Leia's face was radiating joy as she looked at Ahsoka. "She was so beautiful! And she was a diplomat, just like you said!" Ahsoka raised her eyebrow. "What, you thought I was lying to you?" Leia shook her head, grinning in happiness, then stepped forward and grabbed Ahsoka's shoulders. "And Ahsoka, you were so tiny! I had no idea you knew her from so long ago! You were adorable!" Ahsoka smiles and looks at the ground, blushing slightly. "I was young, I had just started my training with my master." Han shook his head and rubbed his hand across his eyes. "Wow, I had no idea you were that young. And you were fighting in battle at that age?" Luke nodded in agreement, looking at Ahsoka with a strange expression. Ahsoka looked back at the screen and selected the next video.

It was another security video, this time in a hallway. The doorway almost directly in front of the camera slid open, and Ahsoka and Padme stepped out of it. They started walking down the hallway until they came to two figures talking, and stopped next to them. The taller figure turned, and when his face came into view, Ahsoka hit the pause button. "What is it?" Luke looked at the screen, then at Ahsoka. "Who is that?" Ahsoka nodded towards the image suspended in midair, and when she spoke, her voice sounded smaller then before. "That is my master, and your father, Anakin Skywalker." Leia stepped forward and reached up to point at his face. "That's our father?!" Han whistled. "Well, he definitely is an intimidating guy, even before everything else." Luke didn't say anything at first, looking at his father's face. Then he shook his head slowly. "No, he isn't intimidating right now. Look at the way he's looking at them. He's protective of them, both of them." Leia frowned and looked more closely at the hologram, then nodded. "You're right. It's in his eyes. He really cares about both of them."

Ahsoka pressed a button, and the hologram powered down. "Now that we know how to access the files, you can come and search through them for your mother whenever you want. But we should go have our first lesson with Spetevge. Actually…" Ahsoka looked at Leia. "You should come too." "Me?" Leia's voice squeaked, and she coughed to cover it. Ahsoka nodded, grinning slightly. "You're sensitive to the Force too. You should learn how to work with it and how to fight with a lightsaber as well." Leia looked down at her small blaster, then up at Ahsoka. "Do you really think I could learn to be a Jedi?" Ahsoka nodded, smiling. "I'm sure of it." Luke nodded as well, and Han rested his hand on her shoulder. "So I'm married to a Jedi now?"


	6. Chapter 6

"Careful!" Leia's hand twitched, and the orb suspended in front of her crashed to the ground. She cursed and bent down to grab it as Luke frowned. "You're being too aggressive with your intentions Leia. If you keep trying to use the Force like that, you'll end up depending on your emotions." Leia looked at Luke out of the corner of her eye. "You don't have any room to talk Luke. You can barely do any more then I can with the Force." Luke opened his mouth in shock, but Ahsoka stepped between them and put her hand up with an amused expression on her face. "Both of you need to calm yourselves. You won't make any process if you compare yourselves with each other."

Behind Ahsoka, Spetevge sneezed. The young Wookie was sitting crosslegged on the floor with four pebbles in front of her and trying to move them with the Force. One pebble shifted slightly, but the others didn't move at all. Spetevge squeezed her eyes shut tightly, then sighed and looked up at Ahsoka. "I don't understand how it's supposed to feel. How can I do something if I don't know how it feels?" Ahsoka smiled and sat down next to her, motioning for Luke and Leia to do the same. "To use the Force, you have to connect to it. The best way to explain it is that you are opening yourself up to it." Ahsoka paused and tapped her fingers on her leg, and Leia looked at her curiously. "Do you mean mentally?"

Ahsoka tilted her head and looked up at the roof. "In a way. As you grow and learn, you construct barriers around yourself. If you aren't careful, then you can lock yourself inside with no hope of getting back out." "Is that why training is supposed to start at such a young age?" Ahsoka glanced at Luke and nodded. "Exactly. when you start young, it's easier for you to learn how to open yourself up. Because you and Leia are both older, it will be slightly more difficult for you to open up to the Force. However, it isn't impossible at all for-" Ahsoka paused in mid-speech and cocked her head slightly.

At the other end of the hanger, a siren started to wail. As the siren's volume rose, other sirens joined in, and Luke shot to his feet. "That's the attack warning! But they're only supposed to go off if it's an Imperial attack…" Ahsoka stood up and looked at Leia as she stood as well. "What is the protocol in these situations?" Leia's hand drifted to the blaster strapped to her hip. "We send out the fighters and order the citizens to the lower levels." Ahsoka nodded. "Then let's do that. I'll take Spetevge back to her quarters then join you." Luke glanced at Ahsoka and nodded. "Let's go." Luke started running for the hanger deck, and Leia darted towards the command bay. Spetevge looked up at Ahsoka and touched her hand softly with her own small paw, and Ahsoka looked down at her and smiled slightly. "It's ok little one. Let's get you back to your room, then I need to go." Spetevge nodded, and in a few minutes Ahsoka was stepping back out of Spetevge's room and carefully closing the door. Ahsoka turned and strode down the hallway towards the command center, but just as she reached it the hallway shook. Ahsoka staggered and gripped the edge of the door as a large crack spiderwebbed across the ceiling. "Ahsoka!"

Leia grabbed Ahsoka's arm and pulled her into the room as a chunk of stone dropped from the ceiling where she had been standing. Ahsoka grinned at her, her eyes alive with energy. "How many of them are there?" One of the men manning the tracking station pointed at the screen. "There's one star destroyer and several smaller ships, but the real danger is the TIE fighters. There doesn't seem to be an end to them, and they're running strafing patterns on the base." Leia frowned, looking at the screen. "There's something I don't understand though. When they first dropped out of hyperspace, it was almost like they didn't know we were here. It looked like they were chasing a smaller craft that was damaged. The TIE fighters weren't released until after our fighters went out, but they greatly outnumber our own forces." Ahsoka frowned. "So you're saying that the Imperialists were hunting someone and that ship dropped off the radar?"

Leia nodded just as Luke's voice came crackling in on the communicator. "Leia, have we given you enough time? If it takes much longer, then there won't be any fighters to call back." Leia's eyes widened and she spun around. "Is the shield ready yet?" A teenager working at a station by themselves nodded. "Call them back, nine seconds until we can deploy!" Leia pressed a hand to her communicator. "Luke, did you hear that? Get back in here now!" "Got it." Ahsoka looked at Leia questioningly. "One of Han's duties was to bring back anything useful he was able to get his hands on. On Naboo, he was able to get some ray shield generators from the Gungans that live in the swamps. They can deflect all blaster fire, but-" "Deploying now!" The teenager tapped a series of commands into her screen, and the room lit up brightly for a moment before the light stabilized.

Leia grinned slightly as the explosions and blaster fire sounded much more distant. "Now their attacks can't work at all. As long as they don't use droids, they can't get through." A high-pitched burst of static came in over the speakers, and Han's voice echoed curtly into the room. "Well, that's nice to hear. Now, how about that girl who forgot to warn me before turning the generators on comes and helps me clean up the mess she made?" The teenager yelped and scurried out of the room as Leia laughed. "Well, now we can start cleaning up the damage from the battle." Her expression turned serious, and she looked at Ahsoka. "I need to find out how many we lost." Ahsoka nodded. "I'll come with you. I need to get back to the Junkyard afterwards, I need to finish what I'm working on." Leia looked at Ahsoka as they walked out of the room. "What is it?" Ahsoka glanced at her and looked away before replying. "It's something for training. It'll help, and I'll be able to train as well." Leia's mouth twitched, and she looked at Ahsoka out of the corner of her eye. "Will I be able to improve my technique with the Force?" Ahsoka looked at her and her eyes sparkled for a moment. "It's more of a… Physical type of training."


	7. Chapter 7

A chunk of the ceiling dropped to the floor, and Ahsoka sighed. The corridors were badly damaged from the bombing runs, and sections of the ceiling had collapsed completely. She wedged her shoulder underneath another section and shoved it to the side, then looked back at Leia. "Are you sure this is the fastest way to the hanger? With this amount of debris, it could take us another hour before we get there." Leia nodded and rolled a large chunk to the side, further opening the hallway. "It should only be this middle section that's collapsed. This is one of the longest hallways, so protocol is to evacuate this area first in case of collapses. The workers in the hanger will already be working to clear it from their end."

Ahsoka turned back to the pile of rubble in front of them and grinned. "Speak of the angels." Leia glanced up and saw that one of the largest chunks was shifting slightly. It rolled backwards, and Han's face came into view. He grinned at them as he grabbed the next section and heaved backwards. "Fancy seeing you here, Snippy." Ahsoka grinned and lifted the rock from the other side, and they dropped it to the side. "Leia thought it would be a good idea to make sure you hadn't scared our technician specialist away. I just followed her."

Han shook his head and looked offended. "Scare someone away? Me? I wouldn't scare someone, if I wanted them gone I'd shoot them." Leia smiled as she slipped through the gap. "Or run, or do something stupid like fly into an asteroid field." Han poked her as Ahsoka slipped through the gap. "Hey, that worked, and don't you forget it." The sting in his words was dulled by the sparkle in his eyes. He glanced at Ahsoka, who had stepped past them and was looking around the space. The structure was stronger here, and while there were a few cracks, there weren't any collapsed sections. Ahsoka looked back at Han. "How many pilots were lost?" Han frowned. "We weren't expecting so many TIE fighters. We lost forty-three today." Leia's eyes widened. "Forty-three? That's almost our entire force!"

Han nodded as Ahsoka rested her hand on the hull of an X-wing and closed her eyes. Leia glanced over and frowned. "Ahsoka, are you ok?" Ahsoka nodded slowly. "Something feels different now. It feels like there is a new presence in the base." Leia frowned. "That's not possible. We would have known if someone made it into the base before the shields went up." Leia grabbed her communicator and pressed a button. "Everyone, report. Have you found any signs of someone making it into the base?" The communicator crackled, then a series of voices began to come through. "No. 3 is clear." Negative. 2 is empty." "Nothing here in 4." Leia frowned. "Number 1, what's your status?"

There was a moment of silence, then the communicator buzzed. "There's a breach in the exit. It's small, only large enough for one person." Han cursed. "But there's something else. This doorway wasn't blown open, it was cut open with a lightsaber." Han froze, and Leia's eyes widened slightly. Ahsoka opened her eyes and began walking to the Junkyard. Leia looked up and shoved the communicator into her pocket, and she and Han both ran after Ahsoka. "Ahsoka, what are you doing?" Leia asked as she fell into step next to her. "Do you know who this person is?" Han questioned as he walked by her other side. Ahsoka shook her head. "No. Whoever they are, they know how to use the Force to conceal their presence. I won't be able to tell who it is until I get much closer." "So why are you going to the Junkyard?" Han's voice had a slightly confused edge. Ahsoka smiled as she stepped through the doorway and picked up a small controller. "I'm going to warm up." She pressed the button then drew her lightsabers as she stepped into the center of the room, and Han and Leia looked at the piles of junk strewn around the room. Everywhere, droids assembled from scrap metal were pulling themselves free of the piles and drawing blasters. "Ahsoka? Where did these droids come from?" Leia and Han drew their blasters. "Don't! I made them for practice. The blasters have been altered, they won't kill, they'll just leave a nasty mark. I needed something to fight for training. These will do for now." Ahsoka activated her lightsabers, and the green light made her eyes gleam. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, then launched herself into the air.

Leia's eyes widened. She had seen Luke fight in Jabba's palace, but Ahsoka's moves were on a completely different level. She moved so quickly you couldn't tell which droid was her next target, and she even dismembered droids while moving around the room. Towards the end, six droids moved towards her at once as she landed on the nose of a ship. Ahsoka didn't even blink. She flipped towards them and spun as she did so. Her blades blurred as she spun, and when she landed, the droids collapsed around her, neatly sliced into pieces. Ahsoka stood up, and the last droid stood up behind her and fired. Leia's mouth opened, but before she could say anything Ahsoka blocked the shot without even looking. It hit the droid in the head and it staggered. Ahsoka turned and hurled her lightsaber straight through its chest, then called it back to her hand. She looked around, then deactivated her lightsabers and sheathed them. Leia looked at Han, then noticed that further away, Luke was watching. He was holding his helmet in his hands, and his eyes were wide. Leia frowned. It almost looked like he had a question, but he turned and strode away before Leia could call out to them.

She heard a crunching sound and turned back to see Han walking towards Ahsoka. "That was amazing! I've seen Luke do some impressive things, but that was amazing! You looked like you could take on twice that many and still have it easy!" Ahsoka grinned slightly, looking embarrassed. "It was just some droids, and I made them myself. They weren't as difficult as they should have been." Han shook his head and looked at Leia as she came over. "Leia, tell Snippy that what she just did was amazing." Leia smiled. "It was definitely impressive, at the very least." Ahsoka smiled at that, then turned and looked towards the hallway. It was almost completely cleared now, and her face was serious when she turned back to Han and Leia. "I'm going to go look for the intruder now. They should have felt that, and it'll have them on the lookout." Han frowned. "You wanted them to know you were here? Why?" "So that when I find them they don't think I'm instantly attacking them. It might give me a chance to talk and figure out what they're doing here, and if they were the ones the Imperials were chasing." Leia nodded slowly. "All right, good luck Ahsoka. I hope you find them and you are able to talk to them." Ahsoka nodded and walked towards the end of the hanger. As she entered the hallway, Han looked at Leia. "What do you think is going on?" Leia sighed. "I think that our jobs are getting a lot harder."


	8. Chapter 8

Luke walked quickly through the hallways. His mind was spinning as he thought about Ahsoka. Her attacks had been amazing. Neither Obi-Wan or Vader had used their weapons like that. It had almost seemed like she floated as she fought, her moves had been so elegant. But there had been something else. Ahsoka had cut down all those droids with ease, as if she had done it a thousand times before. " _A Jedi should follow the path of peace._ "

Luke walked through a doorway and looked up. He had wandered into the computer lab, the same one that Ahsoka had shown them the footage in. Luke walked over to the computer and logged in, then began flipping through the files. He stopped at the largest file, the one marked "B.F." Luke looked at it, and a question began to burn in the back of his mind. " _Why didn't Ahsoka want us to see these files?_ " Luke hesitated, then opened the file. " _Ahsoka is a Jedi. There can't be anything wrong in these files._ " He pressed play, and the scene from before came up. The battle started, and Luke swallowed as he watched. The point of view was very disconcerting. The camera leapt from place to place attacking droids and defending soldiers. " _It's Ahsoka._ " Suddenly, Luke's eyes widened, and he rewound the video. He pressed play and as he watched, his jaw dropped. "What?" He went back to the menu and selected another video. Within a couple minutes another battle started. Luke jumped from video to video, and as he watched, his face grew paler and paler. " _Who is she?_ "

Ahsoka walked quietly through the hallways. She knew which section the intruder was in, but she couldn't tell who it was. They knew a lot about the Force, enough that they could conceal their identity. As she walked through the base, she headed towards the storage rooms. " _Whoever it is, they aren't here to attack us._ " As she stepped through the doorway into the first storage room, she looked around. The presence was stronger here. The intruder was definitely close by, in either this room or the next. Ahsoka ducked as she walked underneath a pipe, but her headtails still brushed against it. Ahsoka paused as she heard a soft noise behind her. "You're clever. Waiting until I make a noise to move. Why don't you come out here where I can see who you are?"

Ahsoka looked back towards the doorway and waited. There was silence, then a black shape detached itself from the wall next to the doorway. The figure crossed their arms and leaned against the door jam. "Well, who thought that I would ever see Skywalker's little pet again?" Ahsoka's eyes widened. "Ventress?" Asajj Ventress stood up and stalked towards Ahsoka. She looked older, but her figure was the same lithe form from before. She wore a simple bounty hunter's uniform, and instead of being bald, she had chin-length blonde hair. Ahsoka noticed she was taller then Ventress now, even without her headtails. Ventress stopped a few feet in front of Ahsoka and smirked. "It's good to see a familiar face."


	9. Chapter 9

Ahsoka blinked, eyes wide. "What are you doing here Ventress?" Ventress smiled and stretched her arms above her head, leaning first to one side, then the other. "Is that the only welcome I get after all this time? I thought we had a connection." Ahsoka raised an eyebrow. "If I remember correctly, most of those meetings ended with you trying to kill me." Ventress held up a finger. "But you're forgetting the last, most important meeting. Don't say you forgot it. It holds a special place in my most treasured memories. Where the great Anakin Skywalker's padowan had to run, and she came to me for help." Ventress smirked as Ahsoka's eyes narrowed and she crossed her arms. "Don't flatter yourself. I needed help, and I could trust you to look out for yourself." Ventress tilted her head slightly towards Ahsoka, her eyes amused. Ahsoka rolled her eyes. "So why are you here?"

Ventress turned and walked over to the wall. She examined it for a few moments, then began to speak. "When Skywalker led the rebellion, I left the city. There was too much going on, and with no Jedi Council, there was no chance of me getting the pardon I was promised." Ahsoka twitched slightly. Ventress paused, then continued speaking. "I went to the Hutts and offered them my services. Most of them laughed, because my uniform wasn't as gaudily adorned as those fools they call specialists. But Jabba was smarter. He offered me a place, so I joined him. Then Vader caught me while I was on a mission about a year ago. He offered me a position as his apprentice, which I refused. Then he said that I would change my mind eventually, and I was taken to a prison facility. The accommodations were… unpleasant."

Ahsoka walked over to her, and Ventress looked at her. Ventress's eyes were hard. "But something changed. I felt him die, and the command immediately began to crumble. It only took a couple days for me to escape after that. But having a prisoner escape rallied the remaining officers. They came after me in force, as you saw." Ventress smiled, and her eyes shined with a harsh light. "Apparently I was a prisoner of some value. I felt the presence of a Force sensitive here, so this became my destination. I expected a weak student trying desperately to learn how to control their abilities. Not a full-fledged Jedi I thought was dead long ago." Ahsoka shook her head slowly. "There are actually five Force-sensitives here now. We've started searching for others throughout the galaxy."

Ahsoka looked at Ventress with a searching expression. "If you knew someone was here, why did you choose this place? Wouldn't you want to avoid being with others and go back to your job as a bounty hunter?" Ventress shrugged her shoulders. "Staying in a prison facility for as long as I did with imbeciles like that gave me a reason to find people who could actually fight. The best place to start would be with a Force-user." Ahsoka pondered this as Ventress turned and began pacing the room. Ahsoka watched her figure move gracefully through the space, and a realization slowly dawned. " _She's lonely. That's why she wanted another Force-user."_ Ahsoka crossed her arms behind her back. "Ventress." Ventress turned and looked at Ahsoka. "Yes?" "There are several people here who are going to need to be trained. I was going to train them on my own, but." Ahsoka looked Ventress in the eye. "It would be better if I had someone else to help them explain." Ventress smiled. "Are you asking me to help you?" Ahsoka sighed and looked up at the ceiling. " _may gundarks kill me for saying this…"_ Ahsoka looked back down at Ventress. "Yes. I'm asking you to help me train them." Ventress's eyes sparkled for a moment before going back to their normal calculating look. "Well, since I have nowhere else to go at the moment, I guess this place is as good as any."

Ventress held out her hand, and Ahsoka shook it. "Do you still have your lightsabers?" Ahsoka looked at Ventress curiously. Ventress gave her a look. "Do you still have your headtails?" Ahsoka flushed, and Ventress drew both her lightsabers, twirling them in her hands. "Before I even considered escape, I planned on how to get them back." Ahsoka nodded and drew her own. "I kept mine. They were one of the only things that kept me sane." "Even with the memories?" Ventress tossed one of hers in the air. It came down and halted half a foot above her hand. Ahsoka nodded, then sheathed her lightsabers. "There are so many memories in them, even with the dark ones, they're still worth those that are light." Ventress nodded and sheathed hers as well. Ahsoka walked through the doorway with Ventress, and they started walking down the hallway. Ahsoka pulled her communicator out, but paused before turning it on and looked at Ventress. "Just, don't use your lightsabers yet. Give them a chance to get used to them first."

Ventress shrugged, and Ahsoka called Leia. Leia's form flickered into view, and she looked up at Ahsoka with a slightly worried expression. "Ahsoka, how is the search going? We haven't found the intruder yet, but we're observing all the cameras." "Don't worry, I found the intruder." Leia's body relaxed slightly, and she grinned. "That's great news. Were you able to catch them?" Ahsoka looked at Ventress, then back at Leia. "It's complicated. Meet me in my room, and bring Han and Luke with you." Leia frowned, but nodded. "All right. We'll be there soon." The hologram flickered out, and Ahsoka slipped it back into its slot. She looked at Ventress and blinked. Ventress was looking at her with an odd expression. "What?" Ventress shook her head. "You look like you've aged, but you're still the commander from the Clone Wars." Ahsoka shrugged. "I never left it behind. It's a part of me now, and I don't think I could forget even if I tried." "You shouldn't." Ahsoka looked at Ventress in surprise. "You aren't a Jedi any more. Not that type anyway. They were corrupt and blind. You understand. Your experiences in the war taught you that much. You are going to define what being a Jedi is now. It's up to you what they do on the battlefield." Ahsoka stopped walking, and Ventress took another step before realizing she had paused and looking back. "Not just me." Ahsoka resumed walking, looking straight ahead. "It's going to be both of us."


	10. Chapter 10

Ahsoka leaned against her bed and watched Ventress. Ventress was sitting on Ahsoka's storage unit with her legs crossed and her eyes closed. From a distance she looked almost bored, but Ahsoka could see that she was ready for anything. "You're staring." Ventress spoke without opening her eyes. Ahoska blinked, then looked up at the ceiling and grinned. "You know, whenever I hear your voice, for a moment I forget everything that's happened. I can almost see my master walking through the door and grinning at me." Ahsoka looked down at the ground and Ventress opened her eyes. She looked at Ahsoka and her eyes narrowed slightly. She made a flicking motion with her finger, and Ahsoka's communicator slid onto the floor with a clatter. Ahsoka jumped, and she glared at Ventress. "What did you do that for?!" Ventress shrugged. "You weren't paying attention." Ahsoka opened her mouth, but the door beeped before she could respond.

Ahsoka waved the door open, and Han, Leia, and Luke walked in, with R2 rolling behind them. Ahsoka stood up, and Ventress unfolded her legs and slid to the floor. Han and Leia looked at Ventress curiously. "So you're the intruder?" Han grinned slightly. "I have to say I was expecting someone more… storm trooper-y." Leia looked at Han, and he spread his hands wide. "What? It's true! She's much curvier!" Ahsoka choked, and Leia's eyes widened in shock as Ventress laughed. "Well, I have to say that's a better reception then I was expecting." Ventress walked forward and crossed her arms. "I'm Ventress. I've seen Ahsoka fight, and if she's willing to work with you, then I don't see any reason why I shouldn't." Han looked at Ahsoka, and Ahsoka nodded. "If you want to be properly trained, then you need to have people who work and fight with different styles training you. Ventress and I use different styles, so we will be able to give you more options for working with the Force."

Leia opened her mouth, but Luke interrupted her. "Why should we trust you?" Ahsoka looked at Luke with a calm expression. "Because you asked me to stay. If you want me to stay and train you, then I am going to bring whatever and whoever I need to make the training better." Luke frowned. "We don't know enough about what happened during the Clone Wars. You could bring something here that would hurt us, or even destroy us." Leia looked at Luke with concern. "Luke, are you all right? You're acting strange." "Luke looked at her, then at Ahsoka and Ventress and shook his head. "I'm fine. Do what you want. Spetevge already listens to you." Without another word, he turned and walked out of the room. Leia stared after him in shock, then looked at Han. Han shrugged, and Leia shook her head then looked at Ventress. "If Ahsoka trusts you, then I'm glad to have you here. But if you do anything, then you'll have to leave." Leia went to follow Luke, and Han looked at Ventress then went with Leia as well.

Ventress looked over at Ahsoka with a calculating expression. "That was an interesting experience." Ahsoka nodded and looked at R2. "Skywalkers are never dull." R2 trilled in agreement, and Ahsoka walked to the doorway. "Do you want to meet Spetevge?" Ventress shrugged and walked out of the room. "Why not? I'm going to train her after all." Ahsoka walked down the hall with Ventress, and R2 rolled alongside them. Ahsoka knocked on Spetevge's door, and a small "Come in." came from inside. The door slid open, and Ahsoka stepped into the room. "Spetevge, I found the intruder. Do you want to meet her?" Spetevge looked up from her seat on the head of the bed and nodded. Ahsoka looked back at Ventress and waved her in, and Ventress quietly came into the room. When she saw Spetevge she stopped and blinked before leaning against the doorframe. "Well, you're definitely the smallest Wookie I've ever met, and the first one with white fur." Spetevge looked up at Ventress and blinked her deep black eyes slowly. "You're deep. You've felt a lot of pain, but you're strong as well. But you also try not to feel, because you're scared you'll lose again." Spetevge smiled and slid off the bed. "I like you." She walked over to Ventress and held out her paw, and Ventress shook it with an amused expression. "I think training you is going to be a very interesting experience young one." Ahsoka watched Ventress sit down on the floor with Spetevge and smiled slightly. " _Master, can you believe this? The Jedi aren't defeated. We'll find other younglings, and we'll bring them here. We'll train them, and we'll rebuild the Jedi Order. Even Ventress is here, and she wants to stay_." "Ahsoka." Ahsoka looked at Ventress,, who had stood up again. "Why don't you show me where I'll be staying. Spetevge is trying to meditate." Ahsoka nodded, and she and Ventress left the room with R2 and started walking down the hallway. " _I wish you were here as well Skyguy."_

Ahsoka turned the corner and stopped just short of bumping into someone. "Oh, I'm sorry- Ahsoka!" The speaker was Petro, the young pilot. Ahsoka looked at him and frowned. "Aren't you supposed to be helping with repairs in the hanger?" Petro jumped and nodded. "Yeah, I'm actually going to grab a tool from my room. We're running low on a exhaust vents, so I'm going to go visit a friend who should be able to help." Petro stepped around Ahsoka and glanced at Ventress before continuing down the hallway. Ventress looked at Ahsoka, and Ahsoka shrugged. "He's unusual." Ventress nodded slightly. "He definitely is." Ahsoka paused, then continued down the hallway before opening a door halfway down it. "This is our only open room right now, that attack damaged the west wing." "It will be fine." Ventress walked into the room and looked around before looking back at Ahsoka. "I'm going to rest now." She closed the door, and Ahsoka blinked and looked down at R2. "Do you understand what just happened Artooie?" R2 whistled quizzically, and Ahsoka nodded in agreement. "Neither did I." She started walking back to the computer lab, and R2 rolled along beside her. "I hope tomorrow's training goes better than today's." R2 whistled agreement, and Ahsoka laughed. "At least I know you'll still like me at the end."


	11. Chapter 11

Luke paced through the hallways with his mind churning, as he had been doing all night. He was torn between going back to the computer room to look through more of the files and confronting Ahsoka about what he had seen. There were so many videos, he hadn't even gotten through half of them. Instead, he had skipped from place to place. In some videos, Ahsoka was the hero. She worked with other Jedi to save Togruta, to rescue a young Hutt, even to protect government officials. But in other videos she seemed like a different person. She killed people she fought against, she disobeyed orders, and she even went behind her own master's back. " _Which one is she really?_ "

Luke walked into the cafeteria and looked up to see Han sitting at the counter. "Hey Han." Luke sat down next to him, and Han looked at him. "Hey, have you seen Petro anywhere? He was supposed to be helping with repairs, but he's disappeared and I can't find him anywhere." Luke thought for a moment, then shook his head. "No, I haven't seen him." Han huffed as he took another bite of his food. "He's young, but he's a good worker too. He always seems to know just where the piece you need is. But since Ahsoka showed up he's been acting weird. He was muttering to himself about a promise while he was working a few days ago." Luke frowned, then shrugged. "He probably is one of those people who don't believe in the Jedi or something." Han frowned slightly, then grabbed his glass and finished his drink. "If you say so kid."

Luke grabbed a roll from the basket on the counter and walked out of the cafeteria. "What

should I do now?" He walked back towards the computer lab, but as he was passing an open doorway he heard a crash and looked in. Inside Ahsoka, Ventress, Spetevge, and Leia were all working with random objects scattered around the room. Ventress was partnered with Spetevge, and Ahsoka with Leia. Luke smiled as he watched Leia frown at the large crate in front of her, which was suspended three feet off the ground. "Good job. You're doing much better at focusing." Ahsoka walked around Leia and looked at Spetevge and Ventress. Ventress was holding one of her lightsaber hilts and was showing Spetevge how to push objects with the Force while still holding her lightsaber. Spetevge was enjoying herself, she was even able to move a crate as large as her. Ventress was smirking as she watched Spetevge, her posture relaxed.

Luke walked in just as Ahsoka clapped her hands. "Now drop!" Spetevge looked up and her crate fell back onto its side, and Leia's dropped to the ground with a crash. Ventress nodded as she pushed herself off the wall and walked over to Ahsoka. "You need to be able to stop using the Force and focus on fighting very quickly if you want to survive." Ahsoka nodded in agreement. "Both of these pieces, dueling skills and the Force, are important, but they work much better if you can use them together, and especially if you can use them at the same time." "How do you use them at the same time?" Leia looked at Ahsoka curiously. Ahsoka shrugged, looking at Spetevge. "You can the way Ventress was showing Spetevge, or you can use it to increase your own abilities, such as speed or skill." "Then there are attacks you can develop with the Force as well." Ventress crossed her arms and leaned against the crate. "Force Lightning and Force Choke are only a couple of the attacks employed. There are several other ways you can use the Force as a weapon."

Ahsoka nodded. "You can use it to influence the environment around you and change it to your advantage. If you're a quick fighter, pulling down objects to use as obsticles is option. If strength is your advantage, hurling objects at your opponent works as well. It all depends on how you communicate with the Force and how it responds to you." Ventress took two steps and flipped onto a stack of crates taller than her. "You can also use it to enhance your own movements. You can learn to make yourself faster, stronger, or more agile." "It may not seem that useful compared to direct Force attacks, but being able to handle yourself as well as you handle the Force is extremely important to fighting well."

Ahsoka looked up at Ventress, who had stretched herself out on the crates like a cat, and grinned. "Will you come back down? We still have a few things to go over before we let them go." Ventress opened one eye and looked at Ahsoka, then closed it again. "I'm fine where I am." Ahsoka rolled her eyes then made a flicking motion with one hand. The crates underneath Ventress flew across the room, and Ventress jumped off of hers moments before it joined the others. She landed lightly and glared at Ahsoka, who crossed her arms and looked coolly at her. "You can go be alone after training is finished. Right now you are supposed to teaching." Ventress rolled her eyes and walked over to Spetevge, who was staring with wide eyes. "Since when did Skywalker's little pet become such a rule-follower? I seem to remember you having a flexible attitude when it came to them, the same as your master." Ahsoka frowned. "Ventress…" She said with an edge. Ventress smiled. "I'm not saying anything." She pulled her hilt out again and started showing Spetevge different ways to hold it.

Ahsoka went back to Leia, and Luke waited a moment, then left the doorway as quietly as he had come. " _What was that? It felt like Ventress was taunting Ahsoka, but why? Didn't they work together during the war?"_ Luke went back to the computer lab and booted up the computer. He went to the file with all the footage, but it was empty. "What!" He quickly ran a scan of the computer, but there wasn't any trace of them. "Bee-op." Luke turned around just as R-2 quickly wheeled out of the lab. Luke sighed and rested his head in his hands. " _So R-2 is protecting her… What am I supposed to do Obi-Wan?"_


	12. Chapter 12

For almost a month everything stayed the same. Ahsoka and Ventress trained Leia and Spetevge, and Luke occasionally came to the training sessions. Usually however, he just stood in the doorway and watched, if he even came at all. Once he had tried to get into R-2's filing system while he was hooked up to the computer for repairs, but the firewalls had thrown him out of the program completely. After that, R-2 had avoided being alone in the same room with him, and spent almost all of his time with Ahsoka. Ahsoka seemed to love that R-2, or "Artooie" was spending more time with her. Occasionally she would rest a hand on him, and sometimes she would even have him show a video to clarify something she was trying to teach.

Spetevge and Leia had grown so much since they had first started training. They could both pick objects up and move them around the room using the Force, as well as pulling, throwing, and crushing them easily. Leia had developed a technique where she could temporarily lift herself off of the ground and levitate, but she was still trying to figure out how to focus on fighting while doing that. Spetevge was trying to apply the Force towards her sight. She wanted to be able to fight normally even in complete darkness, so she was working towards seeing everything with the Force. Ventress seemed to understand what she wanted, so she had been working with Spetevge more closely.

Today, Ventress and Ahsoka were having Leia and Spetevge use their techniques against each other to see what working with the Force in a fight was like. Spetevge had climbed up to a ventilation shaft early in the fight, and she had spent most of the time directing objects towards Leia. Leia wasn't having any issues deflecting them, but she couldn't seem to find a way to attack Spetevge back. Ahsoka and Ventress were both watching from the back of the room, far enough away that Leia and Spetevge didn't feel like they were being closely observed, but close enough that if something went wrong they could help. "Leia isn't being aggressive enough." Ventress frowned and crossed her arms. "She wants an actual weapon." Ahsoka shrugged. "I haven't figured out when we'll be able to get lightsaber crystals, and when I do she's going to need a strong connection to the Force to find hers. So until then she needs to work with feeling more comfortable with the Force." Ventress shook her head, smiling slightly. Ahsoka looked at her out of the side of her eye. "What are you laughing at?" "You expect them to understand how to use the Force, and even fight with it, when they've barely seen anyone use it."

Suddenly there was a crashing noise, and they both turned to look. Spetevge had managed to pick up two crates at the same time and hurl them at Leia from opposite sides of the room. Leia had seen one, but the other had caught her by surprise. She was bleeding from a cut above her eye, but she didn't seem to notice. She pushed her hands towards the ground and started levitating, and quickly rose to the same height as Spetevge. She made a grabbing motion with one hand, and Spetevge and the ventilation shaft she hanging from both ripped loose from the wall and dropped to the floor.

Spetevge yelped in shock and pain, and Leia blinked. "Spetevge I'm so sorry!" Leia wobbled then dropped to the floor, landing with a thud. She ran over to Spetevge as Ahsoka and Ventress rolled her over. Spetevge shook her head and sat up grinning. "That was impressive Leia! You'll have to show me how you did that sometime." Leia shook her head. "But I could have hurt you." Spetevge shrugged. "We're learning how to fight. You can't learn how to properly fight without getting hurt. That reminds me." Spetevge looked up at Ahsoka and Ventress. "Would you show us how you fight with the Force? I was thinking we might be able to learn better if we saw actual Jedi using it in a battle." Ahsoka blinked and looked at Ventress, and Ventress shrugged. "Why not? It would feel good to go up against someone who actually knows what they're doing." Ahsoka grinned. "All right." She looked at Spetevge and Leia. "Why don't you guys go where we were standing. That way you can still watch and not be in danger of getting hit." Spetevge nodded, and she pushed herself onto her feet. "Come on Leia, this is going to be very interesting."

Ahsoka looked at Ventress as they walked to the center of the room and faced each other. Ventress was smirking as she rolled her neck out. "Don't take it hard if I beat you. I've been practicing." "As have I." "Well then, let's see who's practiced more." Ventress crouched then launched herself into the air. Ahsoka looked up at her then whipped around as a crate came hurtling at her. She threw it to the side and kept turning to face Ventress. She flipped backwards and landed on top of the crate, then started hurling the droid pieces she hadn't been able to reassemble at Ventress. Ventress simply batted them away as if they weren't even there. "Is that all you've got pet?" Ahsoka shook her head. "I'm just getting started."

Leia stared at Ahsoka and Ventress as they fought. Not only did they use the Force, but they also traveled all over the room to dodge the other person's attacks. "They're so connected. They see what the other person is going to do and counteract it." Spetevge shook her head. "This isn't anywhere close to what they can do." Leia looked down at Spetevge with confusion. "What do you mean?" "They aren't using any of the actual attacks they've told us about. They're only using things they've shown us. This is only a fraction of what they were like in the war." Leia blinked and looked at the two figures in the middle of the room. "That's amazing. How did they survive so long with the Emperor hunting down any Force users?"

Spetevge opened her mouth to respond, but the entire facility shook as something hit it. Ahsoka and Ventress both whipped around as the sirens began to wail. They sprinted towards Leia and Spetevge and were pulling them out of the room before Leia even realized that her communicator was going off. She grabbed it off of her belt and opened it to se Luke yelling orders. "Leia! Thank goodness you answered. There's a fleet of star destroyers right outside, and they're nothing like the group we had last time. They've surrounded one of the entrances, and they're trying to blow their way in." Leia's eyes widened. "Where's Han?" "He's there trying to barricade that entrance. The _Millennium Falcon_ is in one of those bays, and he doesn't want them to damage it. Leia." Leia looked down at the change in Luke's voice and stopped. "Do you feel that? They have a Force user with them." Leia closed her eyes and focused. She could feel the malicious intent outside the base, but she also felt someone who felt closer than the rest. They felt more familiar, as if they also understood what Leia did. Leia shook her head. "That's what a Force user feels like?" Luke nodded. "When you're looking for them, yes. They're other people who know the Force, so they feel closer than normal people." "We don't have time to discuss this right now. Leia, can you give Spetevge a blaster?" Spetevge looked up at Leia, and Leia nodded. "Good." Ahsoka looked down at Spetevge running next to Ventress. " _Today no one stands by. We lost too many in the last attack. Everyone fights if we are going to have a chance of driving this many back…"_


	13. Chapter 13

Ahsoka and the others sprinted into a room and stopped. It had three different doorways, two leading to the outside and one leading into a smaller hanger bay. Ahsoka turned to look at Leia. "How much damage did the foundation take on this side?" Leia frowned. "Not that much. The main damage was to the western edge; it was mostly surface damage here." Ahsoka nodded and looked at Spetevge. "Let's go find Han then-"

Ventress shoved Spetevge behind her as Ahsoka's head snapped up, and they both drew their lightsabers. Leia's eyes widened as she saw Ventress's crimson blades flare into life, then one of the doors leading outside shuddered as something outside exploded. "I guess they got tired of waiting." Ahsoka looked at Leia and Spetevge. "You two stay behind us and provide cover. We'll fight them close quarter." Leia nodded and gripped her blaster tightly, and Ahsoka turned to face the door just as another explosion ripped it open.

Black smoke and stormtroopers began pouring through the opening as Ahsoka and Ventress moved forward. Leia fired at the closest one just as Ahsoka stepped forward and drove her lightsaber through his chest and yanked it out. Leia glanced at Ahsoka's face and froze for a moment. Ahsoka's expression was cold, and she showed no hesitation as she moved from figure to figure, impaling and slicing each one. A blaster bolt hit the wall right next to Leia, and she jumped and fired back. She glanced at Ventress while aiming at her next target and saw a frightening smile as Ventress nimbly danced through the attackers killing every one she came to. _"They kill so easily, and Ventress's blades are red… Ahsoka, who are you?"_

Ventress spun around and stabbed a stormtrooper in the back as he aimed at Spetevge. "Ahsoka, this feels like old times again! Although," She jumped and kicked one in the face, landing on him as he stumbled back and sending him crashing to the floor. "Any soldier for the Republic was worth ten of these." Ahsoka nodded. "I agree. They don't have experience fighting with Force-users." Ahsoka's mind was racing as she continued to fight. _"They can't defeat us with skill, there isn't a chance of that. They might have a chance if they had the numbers to overwhelm us, but there's no way they can get through the door fast enough to pose a challenge."_

As Ahsoka looked back towards Leia and Spetevge, she felt something outside the other door leading to the outside, and her eyes widened as Ventress and Spetevge turned as well. "Leia!" Spetevge tackled Leia as the second door blew inwards and smoke filled the room. Someone grabbed Leia's arm and dragged her back against the wall, and she saw Ahsoka, her eyes narrowed as she looked around. She stepped in front of Leia, and next to them Ventress did the same with Spetevge. Spetevge had lost her blaster in the explosion, and she was pressed against the wall, her white fur smudged with grey and black. The number of Stormtroopers had tripled, and still more were pouring into the room.

However, these new Stormtroopers had something special. While most of them carried the standard blaster, there were a few who had glowing black blades. Ventress cursed, and Ahsoka sighed. "Energy blades." Leia looked at the Stormtroopers and blinked. "What are those?" "They're something from history, and they keep resurfacing. They can be used against a lightsaber." Ahsoka crouched slightly. "Leia, keep Spetevge safe." Leia opened her mouth to speak, but Ahsoka jumped forward and swung at the closest stormtrooper's head. He blocked her blow, and she landed and swung at him with her other lightsaber. Ventress moved forward as well, and two Stormtroopers moved to intercept her. Ventress grinned as she swung at both of them. "Now things are starting to get interesting."

Leia stared at the fights in front of her and jumped as Spetevge tapped her side. "They're going to lose." Leia frowned as she fired at a stormtrooper, hitting him in the head. "Why? Even against the blades they're still fighting easily!" Spetevge nodded, but her eyes were uneasy as she watched Ahsoka and Ventress. "If they were by themselves they would win easily. But now they have to protect us." Leia's eyes widened as she realized what Spetevge meant. No matter how well Ahsoka and Ventress could fight, if they were having to protect others they had to stay on the defensive. Leia looked at Ahsoka and saw that Spetevge was right. Ahsoka wasn't taking advantage of any gaps she caused in her opponent's defense. Instead, she was staying close to the wall and Leia and Spetevge.

Leia ducked a shot that would have hit her in the shoulder and fired back, then felt something to her left just as a blur of green passed her head. Ahsoka's shorter lightsaber struck a Stormtrooper in the head as he aimed at Spetevge, and he collapsed against the wall and slid to the ground. Leia breathed a small sigh of relief, but Spetevge yelped then looked at Ahsoka. Ahsoka gripped her remaining lightsaber with both hands as she fought against three Stormtroopers at once, whirling from stance to stance while avoiding every strike against her. Ventress had killed the first Stormtrooper, but she was giving ground against the two now facing her, as several Stormtroopers with blasters fired continuously at her.

Spetevge and Leia looked at each other with dread in their eyes. The number of Stormtroopers wasn't decreasing at all. Even with the dead ones littering the floor, the room was still filled with white armor, and more were continuing to pour in through the doorways. _"How are we going to survive this? Even with Ahsoka and Ventress fighting the way they are, we're a liability they can't make up for."_ The room shook as something hit the third door, and Leia's eyes widened in horror. "No!" If Stormtroopers had a third way into the room, Ahsoka and Ventress would be overwhelmed while trying to defend Leia and Spetevge. The door exploded and the pieces flew across the room, and Leia ducked as shrapnel and smoke blew past her. Ahsoka and Ventress both froze and looked at the doorway, and Ahsoka's face was one of pure astonishment.

Six figures dashed into the room and began attacking the Stormtroopers. Ventress and Ahsoka shook themselves and began fighting again, but Leia continued to stare in pure shock. The entire group looked young, around their twenties, and they seemed to be completely random. The easiest to identify were the Wookie and the human, but each of the four others seemed to be a different species as well. The Stormtroopers began firing as a group as soon as the newcomers stepped through the door, but they didn't stand a chance. Within five minutes, they all lay dead on the ground. The group sheathed their lightsabers, and one with short tendrils on her head grabbed Ahsoka's lightsaber from the wall and stepped forward, holding it out to her. "It's good to see you again, Padowan Tano." She smiled. "Actually, I guess I should call you Jedi Tano now. There is no way that someone of your skill is ranked as a Padowan." Ahsoka stared at her, and her eyes were wide with shock. "Katooni?"


End file.
